The Minnesota Vikings have a nice history at some positions. Receiver, defensive end and defensive tackle are three of them. Quarterback isn't one of them. Their first quarterback was Fran Tarkenton and he played his way into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It's not much of a stretch to say that the Vikings have been trying to find a franchise quarterback since Tarkenton retired following the 1978 season. They've had some quarterbacks that teased the team and fans with some nice seasons. They've had a couple of Hall of Fame quarterbacks for their great play with other teams come to Minnesota for some nice seasons at the end of their careers. Basically, since Tarkenton the most important position on a football team has been a fairly constant churn in Minnesota. Here are the primary starting quarterback in each of the Vikings 55 years.
1961-66: Fran Tarkenton
1967-69: Joe Kapp
1970-71: Gary Cuozzo
1972-78: Fran Tarkenton
1979-82: Tommy Kramer
1983: Steve Dils
1984-86: Tommy Kramer
1987-89: Wade Wilson
1990-92: Rich Gannon
1993: Jim McMahon
1994-96: Warren Moon
1997: Brad Johnson
1998: Randall Cunningham
1999: Jeff George
2000-04: Daunte Culpepper
2005-06: Brad Johnson
2007: Tarvaris Jackson
2008: Gus Frerotte
2009-10: Brett Favre
2011-13: Christian Ponder
2014-: Teddy Bridgewater
One of the most curious aspects of the Vikings quest for a franchise quarterback has been their apparent lack of interest in doing actually finding one. Most teams keep spending top picks on quarterbacks until they find one that might be able to handle the job. In their entire history the Vikings have spent a #1 pick on a quarterback four times (Tommy Kramer, Daunte Culpepper, Christian Ponder, and Teddy Bridgewater). Three of those have come since 1999. Kramer was under center for the Vikings through most of the 1980s but he was in and out of the lineup so much due to injuries. He was often great. It seemed like he was hurt more often. Daunte Culpepper really looked like he was going to be their quarterback for a long time. His 2004 season was one of the best statistical seasons in league history. Then he tore up his knee in 2005 and he was never the same.
With this sort of merry-go-round at quarterback it's surprising that the Vikings have been competitive for most of their history. They had six different quarterbacks taking the majority of the snaps during the 1990s and they made the playoffs nearly every season. Outside of the 1998 season their participation in the playoffs was brief but they were participants. It was still frustrating. They were never able to build anything because they were breaking in a new quarterback so often.
The years with Hall of Famer Warren Moon were fun to witness. He threw such a beautiful ball. It was a treat to see him work with Cris Carter. The 1998 season was spectacular with Randall Cunningham lobbing bombs to Carter, Randy Moss, and Jake Reed. A simply outstanding season that ended one game too soon. The same can be said about the thrilling 2009 season with Brett Favre. He'll join Tarkenton and Moon in the Hall of Fame next year.
The Vikings have been able to patch together some magic at quarterback with some old folk but nothing beats building something great with a talented youngster. Tommy Kramer teased. Daunte Culpepper did much more than tease but his career was thrashed by that knee injury. Christian Ponder never seemed comfortable in a crowded NFL pocket. 16 games isn't enough of a sample size but the future looks pretty good with Teddy Bridgewater. After nearly 40 years the Vikings may have finally found a replacement for Fran Tarkenton.
I remember when the Vikes had Gannon. They won a division with him, but they let him go, and brought in a washed-up Jim McMahon. Wonder why they got rid of Gannon.
ReplyDeleteAlso, when the Vikes made the Herschel Walker trade, I think that the biggest need for the team was at QB, not RB. I don't think that Wade Wilson was that great.
Dennis Green's handling of Gannon always puzzled me. Especially when his other option was Sean Salisbury. Even though Gannon was the primary starter for about three seasons it never seemed like he really had the job.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Walker trade, Mike Lynn shouldn't have been making football decisions.